Originally Posted by
aewanabe
you original F9ers are speaking out both sides of your mouths. On the one hand, original RAH pilots have a crappy contract which allowed them to undercut the universe and fly mainline jets for 37/hr. On the other, they are a bunch of brats who were hired to fly "RJs" who have no business in a 320, and how dare they try to enforce the ONE GOOD THING (holding company scope) in that crappy contract.
I think almost all F9ers are speaking out of the same side of their mouth. We simply do not want to see an integration with the RAH pilots. Clear and simple. Again, nothing personal. I've yet to have a RAH pilot in our jumpseat that didn't come across a just another good person in this career. And I've had nothing but good experiences when deadheading or jumpseating on a RAH flight. I truly wish each and every one of those guys the best in their careers. Nearly everyone at F9 (JetBlue, Soutwest, Delta, United, American, Virgin America, Spirit, etc., etc.) cut their teeth flying at the regionals, fractionals, corporate (somewhere!) to position themselves for the job they now have. They generally had to in order to build the necessary experience necessary to secure an interview. Last time I checked, you still needed 5000TT and 1000PIC Turbine just to be considered at Virgin America. Personally speaking, I made a conscious decision (and knowingly took a big risk) when I left the seniority and general sense of security I had at SkyWest. Boo hoo for me, right? I don't blame any of you for thinking that. But it does not change the fact that regional airlines have historically been a stepping stone for ANY mainline aspirations, but due to the scope cat being let out of the box, more recently has been a career reality for many. I did not set out on this career to settle for flying an RJ around for $70k/year. Could of made more than that in my previous career being home every night and every holiday. I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to move on from one great company to another. Anyone on this forum flying at a regional probably thinks I'm an arrogant, condescending ________, right? Not at all. I was living your dream 6 years ago. I made a choice. I moved on. I don't want to go back. I don't like thinking that some dude hired on at RAH 5 years ago with 500 hrs. TT has a chance of benefiting at my expense in this SLI. You may not agree with me, but can you blame my thinking?
Originally Posted by
aewanabe
all you guys screaming about SLI/STS have ignored the simple fact that the contract does not call for bump/flush. So if somehow the top 300 guys end up mixed into the F9 list, they won't be pushing you out of that Bus seat. Reasonable fences would likely include making sure everyone on the F9 list had the opportunity to upgrade on the Bus first.
Agreed. That is precisely why we keep mentioning that it will be YEARS if EVER that SLI is implemented. There seems to be a general sense of confusion on the RAH side, evidently compounded by the IBT's ignorance of the subject in the arbitration hearings, that the SLI process will somehow be implemented as soon as it is published. It simply will not happen that way. This is the reality of it. I honestly don't lose any sleep worrying that there may be 1000 RAH pilots ahead of me on the list. We at F9 may totally get hammered on the SLI. Only the arbitrator knows and who knows what he's thinking. But when the list comes out it will be nothing more than a list of names which means nothing to me until implemented and with any fence and conditions that the arbitrator determines applicable. Again, RAH management doesn't want this and F9 pilots don't want this. That in it's own will ensure feet dragging on a new contract which is one of the conditions of implementation. It could honestly be 10 years (including a fence) before SLI means anything besides where I sit on the non-rev list.
Originally Posted by
aewanabe
Guess what guys? RAH pilots are ALREADY flying your 318 replacement. The 190 is far more of a mainline-capable jet than the 170/175 (range, wing, cargo capacity)
You're right. I honestly don't think any reasonable person would argue that the 190 is an RJ. It quit being that about 30 seats ago. Original DC-9 was about 70 seats, right? The line is certainly being blurred.
Originally Posted by
aewanabe
and yet you want the pilots separate?
They are separate. They work for a separate company that just so happens to be owned by the same parent ("Holding") company. Doesn't Alaska Air Group own both Alaska Airlines and Horizon?
Originally Posted by
aewanabe
Over at Blue we used to wish we had merged/purchased/whatever with Frontier...... Many of us wonder now if you would have tried to screw the 190 drivers since it says "ERJ" on the type.
Sorry you feel this way. That's certainly not the case for reasons adequately expressed already by Car Ramrod.
Originally Posted by
aewanabe
And btw, thinking Bedford will divest you to focus on the FFD ignores the whole reason he acquired you in the first place.
Wishful thinking. I tell you what, BB has discovered that running an at risk branded operation is an entirely different animal than milking the 8-10% margin (with fuel costs covered by Sugardaddy) from UAL, USAir, DAL, etc. It's hard not to make money when you have NO RISK. He was minting the stuff (from the pockets of his "partners") while mainlines were losing $500M a quarter. That being said, BB got control of F9 for a steal (<$120M, right? Too lazy to look it up). Maybe he manages to somehow succeed and build the brand so that someone else (UAL or LUV for example) might buy it all for $300M (still a deal). Meanwhile he secures new contracts for his RJ's with mainline partners by agreeing to get out of their way and sell. He returns $180M to the shareholders in this deal and rids himself of the long term money losing proposition of competing head to head against 2 behemoths. I'd rather make some money and return to the guaranteed profit RJ gig as long as it could be secured for the long term. Just daydreaming........
Enough for today.